Mattress liquidation has taken on a new meaning at one local business.
Dr. ZZZZ’Z Mattress Center, one of the only remaining stores inside The Orchards Mall in Benton Harbor, has sustained significant damage and loss of inventory after a flooding event during the pre-Christmas blizzard.
Dr. ZZZZ’Z owner Norbert Zimpfer said a burst water pipe caused standing water throughout the mall, which is now closed to the public. See some of the damage in the video below:
“It’s already starting to smell in my store, and a lot of damaged merchandise,” Zimpfer said. “All the wet beds, that doesn’t help … Now we’re just trying to suck up the water out of the carpet.”
Zimpfer said he hasn’t had time to take inventory yet, but he estimates he lost between $30,000 and $50,000 worth of merchandise.
“We’re more focused on getting the store dry,” said Zimpfer, as he and his family attempted to dry out his store. “The mall was flooded all the way from JCPenney down to Carson’s, and every space in between. All the spaces with carpeting are just sitting there wet carpet now.”
He also has concerns about the mattresses that aren’t damaged by water.
“Mattresses are like sponges,” Zimpfer said. “All my floor samples, they also may not be usable anymore because of all the mildew-y, musty smell in here and the wetness. … If you touch them right now, they just feel weird.”
Now in his 19th year at the mall, Zimpfer said in recent years he has been forced to close the store due to summer heat, and runs 20 space heaters in the winter.
“We haven’t had heat or air conditioning in here for more than four years,” said Zimpfer, in September. “We have a leaking roof that doesn’t get addressed. … Every empty storefront has roof leaks.”
In an interview with ABC 57, part owner Babayemi Femi said they have been running the heat, and the pipe burst because a door was left open by someone who broke into the mall.
Zimpfer said he contacted Heaven Scent Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning to clean his store, but ownership refused to pay for it.
Femi told ABC57 he plans to hire a professional cleaning service. Tuesday afternoon, mall workers could be seen cleaning up water, but wet carpet and standing water could be observed inside closed storefronts.
“My walls are molding from the last flood in September,” Zimpfer said. “The carpet should have been ripped up after that. … It’s been giving me respiratory problems being in the store now all day long. … There is no ventilation or anything because the HVAC system above my store hasn’t worked for four years.”
In recent years, Zimpfer has become frustrated with ownership and management, and is trying to leverage the poor conditions for a buyout on his lease, which still has six years left.
“They said I can leave and they wouldn’t hold me to the remaining lease money,” Zimpfer said. But what they’ve done here, I think I should be compensated instead because their attitude damaged the mall’s and my business’ reputation beyond repair.”
Zimpfer said he is interested in hiring a lawyer to help his cause – and welcomes suggestions on who to call – but mostly he just wants the Orchards Mall saga to end.
“I’m ready to retire after 20 years in this mall,” he said. “There’s no way this mall is going to stay open like this for another six years. I would love to be out of here by the end of the year and just retire. … I just want to put my feet up somewhere on the beach and call it a day.”
By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
